The pipeline is shrinking so get your work submitted! And please continue to share this new project – The Short of It – with people you think would enjoy having their poetry/writing showcased here. Perhaps you are a part of some Facebook or Twitter poetry groups – share this information with them!
Looking forward to reading more “short, sweet and to the point” pieces!
More information about the submission guidelines can be found by clicking this link.
2019 is in the can!
This past week, I took the time to reflect on this past year and also, what 2020 might hold for me. 2019 was a wild ride for sure! Managing to hit and exceed so many of my goals with this blog has left me elated! I can’t express how incredible this ‘writing’ part of my life has gone for me this last year. Practically, every day I had the opportunity to read my favorite writers and enjoyed the freedom to elaborate my feelings and thoughts to my heart’s content. Every month, I celebrated immense personal satisfaction as I witnessed my work being showcased in print and online. This year I also had a chance to be mentored allowing me to continually work on my craft and diligently hone my skills. I was given so much to be grateful for. 2019 has been the bomb!
In that vein of being grateful, for this next year, I’d like to give back to the WP community and beyond. My theme for this year will be Paying it Forward. I’d like to promote, showcase and highlight the good stuff that may not get as much recognition as it deserves.
In 2020, you will find me reblogging and commenting on more people’s inspirational work. I read over 290 blogs on average and there is sooo much good work out there. So I will share it with you, some of it is from days long past but I will also share more recent pieces as I come across those that make me go Oof. I would encourage you to recommend pieces to me as well. Whatever has you relating to it, feeling deeply about it, identifying with or seeing some exceptionally good writing, then please forward it to me. For now, this little mission of mine will be called HITS HOME. I’ll be periodically requesting you to share pieces that stir your head and your heart. I’ve not gotten all the details worked out yet but watch for an announcement soon.
This will also be the year I spend working on my next book and introducing another project on IWH very soon. Stay tuned for more news in the next few weeks about my new ideas and the direction of them. 2020 will be an interesting year!
And don’t fear, I will still be writing but it will depend on what’s going on in any given week whether I will publish to WP. Some weeks may just consist of reblogs and requests for what HITS HOME for you!
Wishing you all as much success as you can dream for yourselves this year!!
What would the holidays be without one last publication receiving recognition in 2019? Well, kinda sad, if you ask me! LOL Spill Words Press has graciously picked up my submission With Awe In Their Eyes!! That’s a really nice present if you ask me. 🙂 Thanks to Dagmara and the editing team. I really appreciate your support of my work!
December is usually not that great for me. From Thanksgiving until March, my mood is generally cloudy. Thanks, SAD. So seeing me with a smile on my face and my mood up going into the end of this year is a rarity. It’s so out of character for those who know me personally.
After I published Every Day I Pause last year, I became familiar with Poets & Writers. This organization was founded in 1970 and is an awesome resource for writers, publishers, and agents. Their mission is to foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public. I made it one of my goals to become listed as a poet with their non-profit. I’m thrilled that I was able to fulfill that objective within a year! Click here to view my profile.
Their requirements to make that happen pushed me out of my comfort zone. But it also gave me continued satisfaction to reach the milestones necessary to become listed as a writer and poet in their directory. Achieving the requirements and now the reward – well, it makes me burst with joy! I’m very happy to be able to be a part of their organization.
Existing as a human, a random outcome when DNA perhaps combines joyously stacks the odds against us right from the beginning. We’re rather frail and vulnerable, but with care, nurture, and hopefully love, or maybe not, we manage to survive and even sometimes thrive despite what life can throw our way. The disasters we encounter – natural or otherwise – can be life-altering. There’s nothing more devastating than having to fight life’s indiscriminate catastrophes. Dealing with and even overcoming some of these moments can be excruciating. It is a “Survival of the fittest” world, just as Darwin described it. The physical world endures merely because of having the strength to survive.
When I look at this capitalistic society, it primarily operates the same way. The financially fittest are a class unto themselves. “Here’s a wild statistic: The 26 richest people on earth in 2018 had the same net worth as the poorest half of the world’s population, some 3.8 billion people.” It’s only a small top tier of obnoxiously wealthy individuals whose wealth sets them apart from most humans. Financial woes will probably never be an issue for them unless they do something so heinous that it topples their kingdom. Some individuals repeat that mantra with a vengeance. And some of those, survive in such a fashion that is a detriment to others — shame on them. Being rich, even ultra-hoarding rich, is not the problem, hurting others to remain rich is. And that’s the point. They think that only they should survive.
It is sad to see so many people perish because the arrogant don’t care. Watching those far removed actively engaged in the destruction of other’s lives for their gain seems monstrous to me. How do they sleep at night?
A fair amount of my life is over, and statistically, I might see about another 20 years. I hope that wealth inequality in this world sees a tremendous change before my demise. There is no reason in this universe that there should be starving children, homeless people, or otherwise destitute individuals.
We should be taking care of each other.
Language of Woods is getting noticed!! Thanks so much, Dagmara K. and the editing team for picking it up for publication, I’m thrilled to be featured on Spill Words for the third time! If you’ve not had a chance to see some of the words represented there, please do as they feature many talented writers.
*Image from Spill Words Press
And we have a winner!
So happy to announce that Bette has been selected to receive a signed copy of Feeling Human and Every Day I Pause. Yay, Bette!!
I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Bette a little after I found her blog earlier this year. In her own words, “I am a writer inspired by nature and human nature.” What wonderful topics to immerse yourself in and be inspired by!!
You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and of course on WordPress, and her books on Amazon. Take a moment to get to know this wonderful lady for yourself!
“Let’s have fun learning, living, sharing and loving language together.”
Bette A. Stevens
I know what I’m doing tomorrow for NATIONAL SPLURGE DAY!!
Killing two birds with one stone. LOL
But for today, please honor the men and women in the garbage industry as today is
#themoreyouknow
